76Mb.... Lol - I struggle on 200Mb!!!
What on earth are you doing with your internet connection to struggle with 200Mb
@Paul? Most of the the schools we support don't have a faster line then that and aren't having any issues with speed!
We've been with Plusnet for years too, long before they become a subsidary of BT and found their service has always been excellent. Controversially they were one of the first ISPs in the UK to prioritise traffic on their network. For most users this is a good thing and allows Plusnet to offer a quality service to most people for a competitive price. They have offered a "Pro" add on option for an extra £5 a month for years now (long before VDSL,) which increases the priority given to certain types of traffic on their network. As fairly heavy users including gaming, we have always opted into this and our connection pretty much always runs at line speed, even when using P2P at peak times. We are lucky that it feels more like a lease line than an contended service.
Virgin isn't available in our area, but even if it was we wouldn't choose to use it. Contrary to popular belief there is more to a decent internet connection than bandwidth and I doubt many here would come close to saturating a 38Mb or 76Mb line not alone 200Mb! If you want to use your internet connection to play games then an 8Mb line with low latency and jitter is far more useful. Virgin seems to have geared their network to deliver big downloads and streaming video at the expense of time sensitive traffic.
The quality of connection available does vary wildly depending on where you live. The speed of ADSL/VDSL connections are largely dependent on how far you live from either your telephone exchange or roadside cabinet respectively. You can get a good idea of the services available and the speeds you can expect by entering your phone number in to the DSL checker here:
http://dslchecker.bt.com/ It's a waste of money to pay for an up to 76Mb over a 38Mb service if your line isn't able to support it. Luckily for us, our cabinet is only 100m down the road or so and consequently we see every bit of that 76Mb which is great but most won't.
Virgin connections seem to be a bit of a lottery too. First of all they may not even offer a service where you live. Second, even if it's available the service could be so contended in your area like
@johnwhitfield that you'd be lucky to get 2Mb at peak times not alone 200Mb! Unless you live miles away from your exchange, it sounds like you would be better off with a solid ADSL2 connection instead of Virgin. If you're lucky enough to live in an area with few subscribers then I'm sure Virgin can be a good option though as many people rate it.
